When Should Employed Distance Students Begin Repaying Their NSFAS Loan?

In 2023, NSFAS introduced the NSFAS Missing Middle Loan under their Comprehensive Student Funding Model for undergraduate and postgraduate students who do not qualify for NSFAS bursaries.

When it comes to repayment of the NSFAS loan for distance students who are already employed, there is no immediate requirement to start repayment just because they are employed.

Strategic Enablement Executive at NSFAS, Vuyokazi Mafilika, explained that eligibility is based on the combined household income, which should not exceed R600,000. There is no special condition requiring early repayment.

Once students are approved for the loan, they sign an agreement, and up to 50% of the loan can be converted to a bursary based on academic performance. Rejected bursary applicants are automatically re-assessed for eligibility under the Missing Middle Loan scheme, with 70% of beneficiaries focused on STEM programmes and the remaining 30% on Humanities and social sciences.